An Analysis Of The Protagonists’ Personality Structure In The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao

Junot Díaz is regarded as one of the most outstanding contemporary writers in America.His works are cruel but entertaining and his works are characterized by artistry and literariness.The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is set under the dictatorship of Trujillo and depicts the sufferings and struggles of the de León family.It has received the Pulitzer Prize and the American National Book Award since its publication in 2007.Scholars at home and abroad have interpreted it from different perspectives,mainly focusing on cultural identity and diaspora.Present domestic studies have not yet touched upon the perspective of Freudian personality structure theory.This thesis analyzes the protagonists’ personality structure in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao based on Freudian personality structure theory.This thesis is composed of three parts: introduction,main body,and conclusion.The introduction part presents the life and works of Junot Díaz,summarizes the literature review,and briefly introduces the Freudian personality structure theory.The research significance of this thesis is also clarified in this part.The main body part consists of three chapters.The first chapter analyzes the protagonists’ typical id.Freud describes the id as a “chaos”.The id is incapable to distinguish right from wrong.It seeks happiness,avoids sufferings,and pursues instinctive desires.The first section introduces Oscar’s id.Oscar is a typical figure manipulated by the id who only wants to satisfy his desires.The second section explores the id of Yunior.Yunior’s id is uncontrollable.Different from Oscar who is completely dominated by the id,Yunior’s id is in a state of confrontation.The third section analyzes the id of Belicia.Belicia’s id exemplifies a trend of shrinking.Her tragic childhood is overcompensated by La Inca which results in Belicia’s strong id.However,Belicia’s id shrinks gradually after three tortuous romantic relationships.The second chapter explores the protagonists’ typical ego.The ego stands for rationality and common sense.It follows the reality principle and serves as a mediator to supervise the id and fulfill the id reasonably.The first section discusses Oscar’s ego.Manipulated by the id,Oscar’s ego is incapable.The second section shows Belicia’s ego.Her ego is weak in the early stage and it gradually dominates Belicia’s personality structure with the shrinking of her id.The third section talks about Lola’s ego.Her ego is developing.She solves problems by escaping from reality at an early age.Her personality structure gradually attains a dynamic balance with the development of her ego.The third chapter analyzes the protagonists’ typical superego.The superego is the most civilized part of the personality structure.It represents conscience and ego-ideal.What’s more,it is at the top of the personality structure.The superego limits the id and guides the ego to achieve ego-ideal according to the perfection principle or the moral principle.The first section introduces Oscar’s superego.His superego is absent.Morality has never been pursued by Oscar in his brief life.The second section discusses Lola’s superego.From childhood to adulthood,Lola’s superego is stable.It guides Lola’s behaviors and helps her become a better person.The third section displays Abelard’s superego.His superego occupies a leading position in his personality structure.The conclusion part is the summary of the above analysis.It points out the dominant place that personality structure takes in the protagonists’ lives.This thesis makes an analysis of the protagonists in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao from the perspective of Freudian personality structure theory.The id,ego,and superego impact on protagonists’ behaviors with various states which lead to their different lives.